Blog
House Democrats Dust off January Infrastructure Wish List as Faux-Response to Coronavirus Crisis
House Democrats announced a coronavirus infrastructure response as part of a “phase 4” relief bill. A transportation infrastructure stimulus package makes no sense as a…
Washington Examiner
Prepare for the next pandemic with a commission to kill #NeverNeeded regulations
The coronavirus pandemic needs a long-term policy response.
Blog
The #NeverNeeded Regulatory Reduction Commission
In a new Washington Examiner op ed, CEI Senior Fellow Ryan Young proposes a Regulatory Reduction Commission to act as a permanent watchdog to prevent #NeverNeeded…
Blog
Antitrust Policy #NeverNeeded and Dangerous in a Crisis
The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission will now allow some collaboration between companies to address the corona virus health threat. They also warned a…
Blog
Why Is Trump’s SEC Chairman Looking to Bring Back an Obama-era Financial Rule?
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has proposed a set of regulations last fall that would bar many middle class investors from buying mutual funds and exchange-traded…
Blog
Potential Phase 4 COVID-19 Bill Must Not Turn Broadband Charity into a Tax
As the COVID-19 crisis ransacks our economy, the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” carries increasingly important wisdom. By any objective account,…
Forbes
Phase 4 Coronavirus Infrastructure Spending To Start At $2 Trillion
There’s still a chance for what next juggernauts America’s way to be made more sensible. We can liberalize infrastructure and the regulation of it rather than…
National Review
The Test’s the Thing
News Release
CEI Applauds Easing of CAFE Standards But Further Reductions Would Be a Lot Better for Consumers
The Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency today released the final Safer Affordable Fuel Efficiency (SAFE) rule, partially rolling back stringent and costly fuel…
Blog
Regulatory Restraint, Full Throttle
Members of Congress pursuing compromise or bipartisan net neutrality legislation should think twice about regulating away certain practices as a priori harmful. Among the greatest…
Products
NeverNeeded Regulation
Blog
New York Times Explains Foolishness of Trump’s General Motors Nationalization
Last Friday, President Trump nationalized General Motors, ordering the company to produce as many ventilators as HHS Secretary Alex Azar says is necessary to address…
News Release
Washington State Couple Seeks Summary Judgment In Constitutional Challenge to Trump’s 2017 Repatriation Tax
In response to the government’s motion to dismiss, a Washington State couple not only opposed that motion, but last week filed for summary judgment in…
Blog
Trump Administration Suspends Tariffs, but Not Confusion, for Three Months
On Friday evening, the Trump administration announced it would stop collecting all tariff revenue for three months, effective immediately. In ordinary times, the news would…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Coronavirus deaths topped 1,000 in the U.S. last week, while new cases continued to double every few days. Meanwhile, agencies issued new final regulations ranging…
Blog
The Guardian Props Up Lame Greenpeace Tirade, Ignores Potential COVID-19 Risks from Reusable Grocery Bags
The Guardian recently published a story on a Greenpeace attack on CEI for pointing out that reusable grocery bags might contain dangerous pathogens, including COVID-19.
Blog
GOP Climate Bill Does Carbon Capture and Storage Actually Reduce Emissions
The American Enterprise Institute this week published A Critique of the House Republican Climate Policy Proposals by AEI economist Benjamin Zycher. Zycher finds that the…
News Release
Trump Wrongly Authorizes Defense Production Act Against General Motors in COVID-19 Response
President Trump today invoked the Defense Production Act to compel auto maker General Motors to start producing ventilators to combat the COVID-19 virus. Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
COVID-19 Relief Bill Passes without Frivolous Green Baggage
The Senate passed a $2 trillion COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus bill by a 96-0 vote. The House passed the bill by voice vote on March 27. The…
Blog
VIDEO: Reforming Antitrust for Global Competitiveness
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation recently hosted its latest virtual event, “Reforming Antitrust Policy for an Era of Global Competitiveness.” ITIF President Rob Atkinson…
Blog
Financial Services Committee Democrats Release COVID-19 Wish List
This week, Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee unveiled their public policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While framed as a goodwill attempt at…
Blog
Greenpeace’s Swing and Miss Reveals Its Hypocrisy about Health Risks from Reusable Bags
According to Greenpeace, my recent article on the sanitary benefits of single-use plastic bags is part of an effort to “exploit” COVID-19 fears and promote…
Blog
Ninth Circuit Should Uphold Panel’s Decision to Dismiss Kids’ Climate Suit
The Department of Justice urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to stand by its decision to dismiss the so-called Kids Climate Suit on the…
Blog
Pandemic Economy: Toilet Paper Supplies Stretched, But Strong
American consumers, worried about the future of the coronavirus pandemic have continued to buy out available stocks of key products. However, temporary shortages are the…
Blog
House Democrats’ Third Coronavirus Supplemental Appropriation Bill Is an Outrage
The Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act is the most irresponsible piece of fiscal legislation to come out of the profligate Congress for a…
Blog
Gingrich Praise of Huawei is Dangerously Misguided
After attempting to cover up the spread of the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party is now engaged in a…
Blog
Regulation, Not Offshoring, Is Hindering Industry from Ramping up Production
In his latest Bloomberg column, Noah Smith argues that offshoring production led to the current shortage of medical masks and equipment in the face of…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging House to Reject “Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act”
We, the undersigned 26 organizations, on behalf of more than 250 million taxpayers and consumers across these United States, urge you in the strongest possible…
Blog
The Next Alleged Environmental Threat: Coal Falling off Trains
Proponents of climate change are repurposing older statutes into climate policy tools, even though they were never intended for that purpose. The environmentalists’ goal is…
Blog
Fly the (Greenhouse) Friendly Skies, If You Can Still Afford to under the House COVID-19 Bill
Airports haven’t been this empty since after 9/11, so it is not surprising that airlines would be recipients of tens of billions of assistance in…
News Release
Congress Should Reject Scheme to Use COVID-19 Stimulus to Impose Interest Rate Cap
Special interest groups are pressuring Congress to use the Coronavirus Stimulus Phase III bill as a vehicle for imposing a nationwide interest rate cap on…
Blog
Minting Trillion-Dollar Platinum Coins Won’t Help Fight the Economic Downturn
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced legislation aimed at tackling the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Tlaib’s bill would give every single person in America…
News Release
CEI Experts Blast Attempts to Politicize COVID-19 Relief Bill
While the nation suffers, Washington has descended into an unseemly squabble over the latest COVID-19 relief bill. Politicians from all quarters are attempting to expand…
Blog
Need for More Wireless Spectrum Will Persist beyond COVID-19 Crisis with Introduction of 5G Technology
Last week, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and US Cellular all asked the FCC for temporary access to additional spectrum to accommodate the recent increased demand for…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Governments are responding to the coronavirus with a getting rid of harmful regulations on restaurants, schools, and stores. Most of these rules were never needed…
Blog
Don’t Save Restaurants by Shafting Consumers
Restaurants are among the hardest—if not the hardest—hit of industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like other industries, restaurants are lobbying Congress and state legislatures…
Blog
Will Coronavirus Fuel or Derail Climate Agenda?
Fear and angst are contagious. With the coronavirus still spreading and the U.S. and global economies in danger of freefall, people may become more receptive…
Blog
Federal Court Decision Underscores Need for NEPA Reform
The comment period has closed for the Council on Environmental Quality’s proposed updates to the implementing rules for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Many…
Blog
Energy Special Interests Demand Handouts in Massive Coronavirus Stimulus Bill
Energy special interests began swarming the Capitol, as Congress passed a second emergency spending bill addressing the coronavirus pandemic and began to put together a $1 trillion or larger stimulus…
Blog
Transportation Infrastructure Stimulus Is No Cure for Coronavirus Economic Slump
As we enter a new era of slapdash bailouts driven by a dangerous mix of panic, ignorance, and opportunism, we face a growing list of…
The Washington Examiner
Plastic Bag Bans Aren’t Helping us Fight Against Coronavirus
Before the novel coronavirus pandemic hit, warnings about potential public health consequences of banning single-use plastics in the name of environmental protection fell on deaf…
The Wall Street Journal
The SEC Wants to Be Your Nanny
A proposed rule would limit investments in risky funds to those with ‘financial sophistication,’ putting middle-class investors at a disadvantage.
Blog
A Billion Here, a Billion There …
Amidst all these temporary war powers, rules, regulations, commands, restrictions, bailouts, and stimulus packages, it is wise to remember the words of Milton Friedman: “Nothing…
Legal Brief
Brief of Amicus Curiae Supporting Appellees/Cross-Appellants and Seeking Reversal in Part
Wielded against citizens and organizations—including public-interest advocacy organizations—strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) “masquerade as ordinary lawsuits.” Hilton v. Hallmark Cards, 599 F.3d 894, 902…
Blog
Post-Corona Politics: Opportunities and Threats
There is a lot of attention being paid to the latest emergency legislation being proposed to address the coronavirus pandemic, from $1,000 checks for every…
Blog
Getting Rid of #NeverNeeded Regulations Hindering Coronavirus Response
What can Washington do to minimize harm from the coronavirus? Some of the best policy responses are coming not from imposing new regulations, but from…
Reason Aviation Policy Newsletter
DOT Proposes Reforms to Aviation Consumer Protection Authority
In 1978, Congress enacted the Airline Deregulation Act, laying the basis for a greatly expanded, more competitive, and lower-priced airline industry. But in recent years,…
Blog
Toilet Paper Economics: Emergency Capitalism Still Better Than Normal Socialism
There are quite a few hot takes circulating at the moment about how grocery stores temporarily running out of toilet paper amid the current coronavirus…
Blog
Liberty in the Time of Coronavirus Part 2
Much of the money dedicated to medical research and services comes from the federal government. While some may see this is a good way to…
Blog
Liberty in the Time of Coronavirus Part 1
A recent headline at The Atlantic declared, “There are No Libertarians in an Epidemic.” But, just as there are atheists in foxholes, there are libertarians…
The Washington Examiner
AOC Spreads Disinformation to Push Socialism Amid Coronavirus Panic
The Washington Examiner cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on AOC’s comparison of the Fed’s response to COVID-19 and student loan debt relief: The…
Blog
Regulation, Confusion, and the Irony of Emergency COVID-19 Testing
By now, readers are aware that testing in the United States for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has been embarrassingly slow. Less well known is that…
National Review
Pandemics, Stimulus, and the Limitations of Flash Policy
Over the past two weeks, America has faced the onset of a pandemic, an oil-price war, and a stock-market crash. In the face of these…
The Hill
This Is How Devastating the Green New Deal Would Be for Wisconsin
The Hill cites CEI’s joint study on the costs of the Green New Deal: The Green New Deal is not some far-left fantasy.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a rough week. Coronavirus infections and deaths continued to climb. Wall Street is officially in a bear market, and Congress and President Trump…
Blog
Federal District Court Upholds Constitutionality of California-Quebec Climate Pact
On February 12, Federal District Judge William B. Shubb rejected the Trump administration’s constitutional challenge to California’s greenhouse gas emission trading pact with Québec. Judge…
Blog
Refrigerants Debate Moves to House
American consumers dodged a bullet when the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act failed to become part of the larger Senate energy package, which has stalled on…
Blog
As Supreme Court Debates CFPB Constitutionality, Agency Accountability Hangs in the Balance
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week over the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and whether, as currently structured, it is too…
Fox News
AOC Criticized For ‘Inapt’ Comparison Between Fed’s Coronavirus Response And Student Loan Debt Relief
Fox News cites Senior Fellow Richard Morrison on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s comments on the coronavirus: But according to Competitive Enterprise Institute fellow Richard Morrison, Ocasio-Cortez was…
The Heartland Institute
Court Orders U.S. Energy Department to Set Efficiency Standards
The Heartland Institute cites General Counsel Sam Kazman on appliance efficieny standards: The government should stop dictating appliance standards and instead allow consumers…
Blog
Coronavirus and the Limits of “Flash Policy”
The coronavirus outbreak is serious, and it deserves a serious response. If you’re healthy, help people out. If you have elderly relatives or neighbors, reach…
The Washington Examiner
EU Official Exploits Coronavirus to Push Awful Climate Change Legislation
We’ve been just waiting for the panic over coronavirus to somehow end up involving global warming. The Guardian finally delivered, courtesy of the ridiculous bureaucrats at the…
The Washington Times
Applying the Lenten Season to the World of Politics and Government
February 26 marked the beginning of Lent, a penitential time of 40 days in the Christian calendar in which we reflect on our mortality and…
Blog
Sen. Toomey Defends Capitalism
This week Sen. Pat Toomey gave an excellent and much-needed speech at the Heritage Foundation on capitalism and its right-leaning critics. Toomey made clear that…
Blog
Eleven Free Market Groups Submit Joint Comments on Proposed Updated NEPA Regulations
CEI and 10 other free market organizations submitted comments supporting the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Proposed Updated regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy…
Comment
CEI Comments on Proposed Updated NEPA Procedural Regulations
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) proposed update of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedural regulations.
News Release
Report: Federal Dietary Guidelines Put Eating Disorder Sufferers at Risk
Federal dietary guidelines and government-mandated calorie disclosures can adversely impact people who suffer from restrictive eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, a new Competitive Enterprise…
Study
How Federal Policy Puts Eating Disorder Sufferers at Risk
Around 8 million Americans suffer from clinically significant eating disorders that drive them to develop and maintain unhealthy, and sometimes fatal, eating habits. The American…
Blog
VIDEO: What Did “the Future” Hold for Public Policy in the 1980s?
The American Enterprise Institute has gone deep into its archives and posted dozens of old videos of roundtables and speeches going back, in some cases,…
Blog
CEI Comments to FCC on Proposed Reallocation of 5.9 GHz Band
On March 9, CEI submitted comments to the FCC on its proposal to reallocate a portion of the 5.9 GHz band from Intelligent Transportation Systems…
Comment
CEI Comments on 5.9 to FCC
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), we respectfully submit these comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (“Commission”) Notice…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Coronavirus continued to spread, the Democratic presidential field significantly narrowed, and the former head of the UAW was charged with embezzlement. Meanwhile, agencies issued new…
Blog
New York Times’ Shoddy Reporting on Agency Skeptic
The New York Times recently ran an article titled “A Trump Insider Embeds Climate Denial in Scientific Research.” The fact-checkers and editors dropped the ball on this…
Blog
SEC’s Proposed Rules Would Take ETFs out of the Hands of Middle-Class Investors
CEI recently signed on to a coalition letter encouraging the Securities and Exchange Commission to abandon its plans to further regulate certain financial products and…
Blog
CEI Scholars Warn EARN IT Act Will Weaken Online Protections
Today, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the EARN IT Act, a bill that ties critical intermediary liability protections for online platforms, known as Section…
Blog
Locusts Threatening African Food Supply; Greens Oppose Only Solution
As billions of desert locusts swarm through East Africa and into Asia threatening the food supply of millions, environmental activists want to ban and regulate…
News Release
CEI Urges Senators To Vote No on Unnecessary and Wasteful Energy Legislation
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) opposes S. 2657, the package of energy bills set for a vote today in the U.S. Senate, and urges senators…
Blog
Liberate to Stimulate 2020: Let’s Start with Trade
The past two weeks have seen a volatile market owing to concerns over coronavirus, which suggests an economic downturn could be on the cards. The…
Blog
Washington’s Latest Attack on Air Conditioning
Think air conditioning isn’t expensive enough? Then you’ll love a proposed amendment to the Senate energy bill that restricts the refrigerants used in millions of…
Blog
Big-Mouth CEOs Less of a Threat than Crusading Politicians
Free-market advocates are understandably skeptical of “stakeholder” capitalism—the idea that corporate managers should focus not just on returns to shareholders, but on pleasing a potentially…
Blog
Joint Employer Rule Gives Much-Needed Certainty to Franchises
The National Labor Relations Board finalized a rule last week that will bring much needed relief and certainty to the franchise industry and other industries…
Blog
Regulatory Hurdles Already Impeding Competition to Big Tech
Calls to regulate “big tech” firms continue to grow louder. Concerns range from the ability of these firms to influence the political landscape to allegations…
Blog
A One-Stop Executive Order 13891 Guidance Document Portal
If agencies are required to compile and list all their sub-regulatory guidance documents and post, link and consistently index them on a portal, can we…
Blog
EPA, Interior, and other Federal Agencies Post Guidance Documents on Searchable Websites
On February 28, the EPA and other federal agencies posted all their guidance documents on searchable websites, complying with an OMB deadline to implement Executive…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The coronavirus outbreak began to infect financial markets as well as people, with stock markets having their worst week since at least 2008. The number…
Blog
May Common Sense Prevail: New York Delays Enforcement of Plastic Bag Ban
New York State’s ban on single-use plastic grocery bags was slated to start on Monday, March 1st, but a state court has just put a…
Blog
Appeals Court Rules Heathrow Expansion Unlawful, Citing Paris Climate Treaty
The UK Court of Appeals on February 27th declared unlawful the Department of Transport’s approval of Heathrow Airport’s expansion plans, because the government “had…
Blog
VIDEO: Trade Is Not a Four-Letter Word
Former Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg recently made an appearance at the American Enterprise Institute to promote his new book, Trade Is Not a Four…
Blog
Federal Court Rightly Affirms Online Platforms’ First Amendment Rights
This week the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that, “despite YouTube’s ubiquity and its role as a publicfacing platform, it remains a private forum,…
FEE
Was the New Deal Really a War on Free Enterprise? It’s Complicated
Cornell University historian Lawrence Glickman has mined an impressive volume of documents and diversity of sources in order to understand the meaning of a potent…
The Daily Caller
Report: Green New Deal Will Impose a $75,000 Per Year Cost On Swing-State Households
The Daily Caller cites CEI’s Green New Deal study, coauthored by CEI President Kent Lassman: “Our analysis shows that, if implemented, the Green…
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin Conservatives Slam Green New Deal Supported by Democratic Front-Runner Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cites CEI’s Green New Deal study, coauthored by CEI President Kent Lassman. The study’s…
The Washington Times
AOC’s Green New Deal Would Cost $75K Per Household in First Year: Study
The Washington Times cites CEI’s Green New Deal study, coauthored by CEI President Kent Lassman: The study, conducted by…
Fox News
Green New Deal Would Cost Swing-State Households Around $75G in First Year: Study
Fox News cites CEI’s Green New Deal report, coauthored by CEI President Kent Lassman. The report, released by the Competitive…
Newstalk 1130
AUDIO: CEI President Kent Lassman Discusses the Green New Deal on Newstalk 1130
CEI President Kent Lassman joins Newstalk 1130 to discuss the real costs of the Green New Deal.
Blog
Two Cheers for Nikki Haley’s Defense of Capitalism
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has written a bold and, for the most part, very good op-ed on the future of…
Comment
Questions for the Record
The Honorable John Shimkus (R-IL) Is it true that the replacements for HFCs are more expensive than their counterparts? If so, what impact will this…
Blog
The Minimum Wage Tax Increase
By far the most common criticism of minimum wages is that they cost jobs.
Inside Sources
Tariffs — Possible Minimum Wage Hikes — Raise Taxes, Harm Workers
Presidential candidate Tom Steyer recently proposed increasing the federal minimum wage to $22 — more than triple the current level of $7.25, and the…
Blog
Net Reality: Five Years Since the Open Internet Order
If you’re reading this, the Internet is alive and well. If you’re wondering how the Internet is doing, just picture a rocket—symbolizing both the incredible…